Trips to Titanic Begin in 2018

London company to begin upscale expeditions to the wreck off Canada
By Linda Hervieux,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 16, 2017 9:31 AM CDT
Got $105K? You Could Visit the Titanic
An April 10, 1912, photo, shows the Titanic leaving Southampton, England, on her maiden voyage. The ship collided with an iceberg on April 15.   (AP Photo)

With large-scale commercial trips to the moon still a ways off, what's a well-heeled traveler seeking adventure to do? A London outfit is proposing the bottom of the sea. Blue Marble Private will begin expeditions to the resting place of the Titanic in May 2018. Groups of nine people can sign up for a visit to the grave of the world's most famous shipwreck 12,500 feet below the North Atlantic, Business Insider reports. From a titanium and carbon fiber submersible that can descend to depths of 13,100 feet, divers will be taken for a swim over the liner's deck and the famous grand staircase. The Telegraph reports that the eye-popping price tag of $105,129 per person is the equivalent in today's dollars to the $4,350 a first-class passenger would have paid for a berth on Titanic's maiden—and only—voyage in April 1912 from Southampton to New York.

Participants can expect Titanic-level luxury during the eight-day trip. A helicopter or seaplane ride will take them from St. John's, Newfoundland, to a yacht above the site where the ship hit an iceberg and sank. Weather permitting, the little sub can take up to three people down to the wreck, day and night, accompanied by a pilot and deep ocean expert. The trips will mark the first time since 2005 civilians have been permitted to visit the exclusive site, which the Telegraph notes has seen fewer visitors than have traveled to space or Mount Everest. The timing may be right: Scientists think the wreckage will disappear in a matter of decades thanks to bacteria now reducing it to rust, reports the BBC. (Was the Titanic doomed before it hit the iceberg?)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X